A Brother's Love
by iClare
Summary: When Cody awakens from a nightmare, who is there to quench his fears? Just a little ficlet that would not leave me alone...enjoy!


The light was shining through the gap in the curtains when Cody awoke, gasping for breath and coughing roughly. He placed a hand on his chest and could instantly feel his heart beating harshly.

Glancing over at his brother, he saw that he was still asleep. Sighing loudly, he curled into a small ball, wrapping his quilt around himself as tightly as he could and whimpered, reliving the nightmare he had had only moments before.

_Zack spun around in a circle, glaring at the people that were advancing on him from all sides. Cody watched from above him, trying frantically to reach out to his brother and save him from the psychotic people who were ready to attack._

_Cody yelled out as he felt flames lick over his body, heating him up to unimaginable temperatures. He wiped at his forehead with his sleeve, soaking it with sweat and, to his amazement, blood._

_He wiped at his forehead again and pulled back but was surprised to see that there was no evidence of blood of his clothing. Looking closer at the ground he saw that one of the people had swiped at Zack's head with his claws, causing blood to flow freely from the wound._

_Another person stepped quietly up behind Zack and Cody yelled out for him to look out, but Zack could not hear him. The man pushed Zack forward and, like a limp rag doll, he fell to the floor._

_"Zack!" Cody exclaimed, trying to push against the force that was holding him back from his twin. The force gave way and he dropped to the ground beside his brother, staring frightened up at the advancing figures._

_He gasped and bit his lip to silence himself when he saw his father standing in front of him. Looking at another person he saw his father's face there as well. He took a glance at every face he could lay his eyes on and they were all identical to his father._

_He clawed his numb fingers at Zack's back, pulling at his brother's shirt but he never moved. His chest wasn't rising and falling like it should have been and there were no even breaths escaping the pale lips._

_"Zack?" Cody called out painfully, turning his brother onto his back to see his identical eyes opened wide and staring at him, dead._

_"You're turn," another voice called out and he welcomed the darkness…_

Cody whimpered pitifully as he relived the nightmare, shaking his head and squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to rid himself of the image of Zack's dead eyes staring at him.

His body still felt as though it were on fire and, along with his chest and head aching, he felt worse than he had ever felt before after a nightmare.

He got them regularly, mostly after playing violent and disturbing video games with Zack. At the thought of his brother and took a peek over at his sleeping form, staring at him for a few minutes to make sure he was still alive.

He rubbed at his eyes and whimpered again when the pain in them increased. He wiped at his forehead with the edge of the quilt and shook as he braved a glance at it.

There was no blood on it, only sweat and for a moment, Cody was so relieved he could barely breath. He coughed harshly and clutched at his chest, hissing softly and biting into his quilt before he could voice his pain.

"Cody? You alright?" Zack asked from across the room, sitting up in his bed and running a hand through his hair. He yawned and blinked a few times to rid his eyes of sleep and looked expectantly at the lump on the other bed that was his brother.

"Fine," Cody replied hoarsely, curling into a tighter ball and burying his head into the pillow, relieved that Zack was alive and unharmed but also not wanting his brother to journey over to his bed and see him crying.

He knew that Zack wouldn't make any comment over Cody's tears, for they both had cried many times over nightmares, but it still didn't take away the fear that he might.

"Mmhmm, sure you are," Zack commented, throwing back the covers and stepping out of the bed and onto the floor. He trudged his way towards his twin's bed, co-ordinating his steps to be sure he didn't step on anything in the darkness of the room.

Zack's quiet steps seemed like giant thuds to Cody's ears, his soft breaths echoing through his head. His mind whirled with the sounds as he closed his eyes to block out what little light there was - his eyes were stinging painfully and the light shining through the window was doing nothing to help them.

He jumped and almost yelled out when he felt someone sit beside him at the edge of the bed. He covered his head with the quilt and hoped whoever was sitting beside him would leave without hurting him.

"Cody?" Zack asked in annoyance, grabbing the edge of the cover and yanking it down, exposing Cody's face to the chill of the room. He shivered involuntarily and curled closer to the quilt, opening his eyes into slits to look at his brother.

"What's wrong? You have a nightmare?" Zack questioned him, brushing back Cody's sweat-soaked hair off his forehead. His face fell into a frown as he rested his hand on his brother's forehead.

"You're sick," Zack informed him with a worried sigh, glancing towards the door. "Maybe I should go and get mom…"

"No!" Cody stopped him, grabbing onto the sleeve of his brother's top, preventing him from going anywhere.

"I'll be okay," Cody whispered, looking up into his brother's eyes. Zack saw the tears that glistened there and sighed, nodding his head.

"Well, move over then." Cody did as Zack asked and moved over closer towards the wall. Zack climbed in beside his twin and pulled him closer, letting the smaller twin curl his fevered body into his.

Cody placed his head under Zack's chin, whimpering when another flash of overpowering heat washed over him. Zack shushed him gently, running his hands over his twin's small back and rubbing it gently, hoping to calm him down.

He rested his head on top of Cody's, pulling the quilt up and about the pair and tucking it in around them to make sure Cody got all the heat he needed.

Cody let out a sob and buried his head into Zack's chest, his fingers clawing at Zack's arms. Zack looked worried again and it wasn't until he asked what was wrong that he found out the truth.

"You died," Cody choked, biting his lip to stifle another sob. Zack narrowed his eyes in confusion, softly kissing Cody's hair and wordlessly telling his frightened twin to continue.

"Dad was there…or there were lots of dad there, I don't know but he pushed you over and when I got to you, you were…dead," Cody explained as best he could.

"Sshhh," Zack whispered gently, hugging his brother close as he had done many nights in the past, letting him cry into his chest until there were no more tears left to cry.

"Feeling better?" Zack asked, smiling gently when Cody shook his head and told him his chest and head still hurt.

"Close your eyes," Zack ordered softly, raising a hand and slipping it under Cody's shirt. His gentle fingers massaged Cody's chest, trying his hardest to ignore the pained moans that were escape his brother's mouth.

He remembered his mother doing the same action on him when he had had a chest infection and thought that it might help now.

True enough it did and soon Cody's breathing was easier and had less of a harsh tone to it. He thanked Zack quietly, hugging him before curling into him and slowly falling into sleep.

Zack lay a hand on his twin's forehead and was relieved to find that the fever had lessened slightly. Though it had not disappeared altogether, he was hopeful that it would leave his brother's trembling body soon.

Kissing his twin's forehead softly, he pulled his brother's shaking form into his body and waited for a few moments, smiling gently when Cody's shivering eased.

Resting his head on top of his twin's again, he sighed. He was glad he was the older twin, glad that he had a younger twin to look after, glad that that younger twin was Cody.


End file.
